White Roses
by AuroraRose2081
Summary: A single white rose represented the life lost that day. It lain in the snow all by itself, braving the winter alone. Mal just wants to figure out what happened. And who better to ask then the spirit herself? (Ben/Mal) (Past! Ben/Audrey) (Dark Themes/Character Death)
1. Chapter 1

Mal hated fighting with Ben. She really, really did. He was such a sweet King, kind and compassionate; wise, brave, and just. But he could also be sickeningly optimistic, cheerful and...overbearing.

Being invited to the Honeymoon Cottage in Auroria had been unexpected turn to a once perfect winter break. Having never met the family of her Mother's distain before, Mal wanted to reject the invitation right off the bat.

_"They'll probably hate me." Mal insisted, flapping the hand written letter of invitation in one closed hand, "my Mom nearly killed their Queen. This is a bad idea." _

_"It's a great honor to be invited to a Christmas in Auroria, Mal." Ben spoke, firmly but gently as he snatched the letter back, "you're going to be my queen. It's already been decided; and nothing is going to change that." _

_Jumping for the letter but being to short to reach it, Mal huffed in annoyance. Her first year in Auradon hadn't necessarily gone smoothly — no doubt the family at Auroria had heard about her shortcomings. _

_"I just...think...it's a bad idea." taking another jump at the envelope, Ben caught Mal around the waist and pulled her close, stealing away her breath with a kiss. "I hate you." _

_"I hate you to." _

_Giving her that dumb Kingly smile, Mal had folded as easily as the envelope in his hand. _

_Of course, she had been right about the family at Auroria. The minute she arrived Mal knew they weren't fans of her. Queen Aurora and her husband Phillip were kind, but reserved, as it was apparently Aurora's idea to invite them to their Holiday party. Queen Leah though was a different story. She was scornful, and her words bit. It reminded Mal of Evie's mother; though the Evil Queen held nothing on the matron of the Honeymoon Cottage. Mal found it strange that Aurora and Phillip didn't have a child of their own somewhere, as Evie had once told her that an heir was a necessity. But Ben just shook his head. _

_"Queen Aurora isn't able to conceive." He spoke, softly so their hosts wouldn't hear, "she was pretty broken up about it. The news was all over Auradon." _

_Feeling only a little pity for the kindly rulers of Auroria, Mal gladly kept to Ben's side the whole night. Queen Leah of course did everything in her power to humiliate her. As was expected, Dinner had been a total set up. Her betrayal came up more then once, as did her questionable hold on the future throne of Auradon. Ben tried to shut it down, but Mal left the table rather then lose her temper. _

_They met in the hall, and Ben was optimistic. _

_"Don't be so hard on yourself Mal, it happened. It doesn't matter what those old rulers said." _

But it did matter. It burned Mal's heart more then she wanted. She got angry; she felt the tears running down her face. They yelled for a while before Mal once again ran away from her problems. That's how she got here, running down a long hallway which she had never seen. As always, feeling lost.

All of the doors were locked, and the lighting was dim. There were no Christmas decorations up here, unlike the rest of the house, and there wasn't a single servant in sight. Hearing Ben call after her as he hurried up the stairs, Mal turned to the door closest to her.

"Open."

Flipping her hand, the magic in her blood easily broke the lock. Falling inside, Mal slammed the door behind her and threw the bolt. Leaning with her ear against the wood as her breathing stuttered, Ben walked past, still calling her name before disappearing. He was gone. "To close."

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

Jumping in fight at the voice which came from behind her, Mal turned quickly on a heel. The door having been locked, she wasn't expecting someone to be occupying the room. But apparently it was very much so, the sole occupant currently wielding a fire poker. She looked to be Mal's own age, doe eyes large and filled with fear.

"Woah. Hey, I'm not here to hurt you."

Holding up both hands, the girl didn't budge as her fists only clenched tighter around her weapon, "I just got a little lost."

"The door was locked, and you don't have the key."

"Well I...uh..."

"How could you be in here without breaking the door down? Are you a...a witch? A sorceress? I will use this if I have to."

Lifting the poker again, Mal shook her head wildly.

"No! No I swear, it was only little magic. Beginner stuff. Look, I can just go." Pointing to the door as she moved towards it, Mal heard the fire poker clang you the floor suddenly.

"Wait." Turning about again, the girl suddenly appeared distraught, holding out a hand, "please, don't go. I'm sorry, I overreacted."

Staring at her for a long time, Mal relaxed slightly as the stranger toyed with her hands. "I...I'm Audrey, this is my room. Please come in,"

Waving Mal inside delicately, the Dragon Girl pursed her lips. She didn't want to be rude, as she had already scared Audrey half to death by barging in unannounced. But her instincts were going haywire, a strange, uncomfortable feeling boiling in the pit of her stomach. "I know it's a bit of a mess, I didn't know I was having company."

Audrey spoke, flitting around the room like a caged bird. The space — Mal noticed —was absolutely pristine, with everything well organized and seemingly untouched. The only thing slightly amiss was the bed, which was a bit wrinkly from where Audrey had no doubt been sitting.

"Your room is very...pink." Mal noted, sitting at the edge of one of the chairs in front of the fire nervously as Audrey stood awkwardly nearby, smiled and looked around herself.

"I quite like it, pink is my favorite color. I'm guessing yours is...amethyst."

"Ama-what?"

"Purple." Audrey clarified swiftly, "You like purple."

"Oh, yeah. The hair gives it away, right?" Lifting a purple lock, Audrey nodded slightly.

"Yes. You must truly adore the color to wear it so permanently."

"I...guess."

Watching Audrey move around the room, she appeared to be in a slight daze. Her fingers ran across the mantle, and as she passed by the fireplace Mal almost swore she could see it through the paleness of her legs. Audrey was a pretty girl — very pale, with large doe eyes and platinum blonde hair. She was dressed in powder pink, but the dress didn't quite seem to...fit her right, hanging slightly off her shoulder as though it had been torn, with a ratty bottom hem.

Of course Mal wasn't one to judge as her jeans looked as though she had gone running through thorn bushes. But there was something very...off putting, about the girls appearance.

"So...uh, Audrey." Mal spoke, causing the stranger to turn and smile at her. "Why are you up here?"

"How do you mean?"

"There's a big party downstairs." Mal explained, lifting a brow. "Why are you hiding up here by yourself?"

"Oh...well I..." not seeming to find the right words, Mal watched as Audrey's mind ticked away slowly. "I don't really belong down there." She admitted finally, "I used to go to lots of parties, you know. When I was young. I felt like a Princess. But I don't anymore."

Giggling to herself as she stared into the fireplace, Mal felt a very distinct shiver bolt through her. It was freezing in this room despite the crackling of the fireplace. "It was nice being a Princess." Audrey mused to herself, "I bet you're a Princess, right Mal?"

"Yeah. I..." pausing for a moment, Mal glanced up, "did I tell you my name?"

"No, but the boy in the hallway was calling out for you." Audrey spoke, her smile still slightly crooked as she tipped her head, "what's his name?"

"Ben. He's my fiancé."

"Ben?" Audrey mused, her smile vanishing into an expression of deep thought, "yes..I remember Ben. Sweet, courageous little Ben."

"You know him?" Mal questioned, eyebrows raising up into her hairline, "he's never mentioned anyone like...uh..."

"Oh no, he wouldn't remember." Audrey insisted, "it was a long time ago. We were just kids then. If you ask him about it he may tell you. Is he King now?"

"Uh, yeah. Didn't you go to the coronation?"

"Not me. I don't get out much." Audrey admitted, shifting slightly when Ben's call once again echoed down the hall, "you should go to him, Mal. It's best not to keep a King waiting."

"I mean, I don't mind bringing him if you want to say hi." Mal spoke, all to eager to get out of this room which was making her fingers go numb, "just stay here and I'll go get him."

Standing and hurrying towards the door, Mal stopped as the other girl made a sort of thoughtful humming noise across the room.

"Mal." Audrey spoke slowly, carefully. From this distance, it almost looked like her eyes had fallen completely into shadow, Mal couldn't see them anymore, "when you see Ben," tipping her head, Audrey frowned, "tell him it wasn't his fault."

Another roll of shivers running up her spine, Mal unlocked the door and made to leave. But she immediately bumped into a tall, warm chest. Ben quickly wrapped his arms around her, smiling cheekily.

"Gotcha. I bet you are terrible at hide and seek."

"Ben. Hi." Swallowing awkwardly, Mal pointed a thumb into the room, "sorry I was just talking to this girl..."

"I don't see anyone in there." Ben said with a laugh, causing Mal to immediately turn. The room had gone from bright and pink to grey and dark. It looked to have been abandoned years ago, everything covered in dust and cobwebs. Even the fire which had been burning was now just a smoldering pile of ashes.

"But she was here, I was just talking to her."

"Mal, are you ok?"

"She said she knew you." Mal insisted, feeling that eerie chill once again rock through her ribs. "she said her name was Audrey."

Staring up at her husband to be, his face suddenly lost all of its light. His smile turned to a frown, his eyes became dark and held a spark of anger. Releasing Mal's waist, he stepped back.

"How...do you know that name? If this is a joke Mal, you've gone to far."

"Ben, I swear. She was just here; I had a conversation with her. A weird one, mind you, but she was as real as us."

"Mal. You can't have been talking to Audrey."

"Why?" Clenching her fists in her skirts, Mal feared the answer, "why, Ben?"

"Because Mal, _Audrey is dead_."


	2. Chapter 2

Mal was reeling. Sitting in the library at Beast's Castle, a thermometer hung between her lips. Ben was currently pressing a cold compress to her forehead, his brows still pulled together in seemingly permanent thought.

"...en..."

"No talking." Ben spoke firmly, "hold that in your mouth."

"But I'm not sick!"

Pulling the contraption out, Ben snatched it from between her fingers and looked at it, his mood not improving at all as he waved it. As if it would change anything, "it wasn't a hallucination."

"...mm, I already called Evie. She's on her way over."

"What! Ben you can't just..."

"You're obviously not feeling well, and I have a meeting tonight. E will take care of everything — she said so herself."

"Why can't we just talk about it?" Mal snapped, throwing off the layers of wool blankets which Ben had dumped on her the minute they got home. He had been a complete wreck since leaving the party, fussing about her heath, insisting she was seeing things. To Mal, it just seemed like he was hiding whatever it was happened between him and this Audrey person. "Ben, I know what I saw. I know it was real."

"...it's...it's not easy...ok?" Ben spoke, his voice quivering slightly, "not for me, not for my family...and not for Auroria."

"Is that why you insisted we go to the party?"

Call it intuition, but Mal knew attending such a thing was a much bigger deal for Ben then it was for her. She just didn't know how much bigger until now, "who was Audrey, Ben?"

"I...I don't want to talk about it."

"Ben..."

"_Mal_." Ben snapped, his kingly tone slipping onto his tongue. He very rarely used such a voice with Mal. Not even in the early stages of their messy relationship. She had crossed a line — a very sensitive one. "Just let it go, ok? Evie should be here soon, I have to get going."

Hurriedly packing up his satchel for the ride to Charmington, Mal sighed deeply. Perhaps now really wasn't a good time.

"Ben. I'm sorry."

"...it's fine. You didn't know." Throwing his jacket over one shoulder, Ben sighed, "I can only think you...saw her name, somewhere. Imagined up an image."

"Yeah...that must be it." Mal agreed, lying to her husband to be as he gave her a quick kiss on the lips, "I love you. Be safe out there."

"I will. See you soon, Mal. I love you to."

And then he left. Mal was alone in the library, laid out across the daybed as she flopped down onto her back. Something was strange. Even if Audrey was merely a figment of her imagination, it seemed so vividly real. Perhaps Evie would believe her? That, or she'd be worse then Ben and constrain her to a straight jacket.

"...hell..." Mal mumbled in anguish, running a tired hand down her face. She jumped though at the chill which quickly engulfed the room, carrying a voice along with it.

"That kind of language really isn't befitting of a future Queen, you know."

At first Mal thought Evie had walked in. But as she sat up, Audrey was standing by the roaring fire. She somehow looked even worse then before, her pale dress dripping with water, and her hair covered in a layer of frost. Her blue lips chattered from cold as she held her shaking hands to the flames, warming herself.

"Audrey...I...you're real?"

"Of course I'm real. Sorry about before, I wasn't really feeling myself." Smiling weakly, Mal got to her feet slowly. Shuffling to the fireplace, she finally was able to get a good look at Audrey in better light. She did look very unearthly, Mal wasn't sure how she'd missed it. "I don't often stay at my parents old home. To many memories there."

"So...you were a princess of Auroria then? That doesn't make any sense, Ben said Aurora couldn't conceive." Mal questioned, reaching out slowly. To her astonishment, Audrey's hand was completely sold under her touch. She didn't have any body heat though, which explained her shivering, "geez, you're like ice."

"Well duh, Mal. I didn't invade your library for nothing. It's cold out there."

"Wait, have you been in here before?"

"Well when I was alive. But not as a ghost. I was previously unable to come in here until just now."

"Why?"

"You invited me in." Audrey insisted, "not on purpose, obvi. I kinda...attached myself to you when you visited me. I followed you back when you left."

"What? Audrey you can't just..." wanting to complain, Mal realized how absurd she sounded when no one else even believed Audrey was here at all, "nevermind. Other then the fireplace, why are you actually here?"

"You're not much of a problem solver," Audrey chortled, shaking her hands which sent ice cold water spraying across the hardwood floor, "I need your help."

"If anyone else sees me talking to nothing, Audrey, I'll be sent to a padded room. It's not a good idea."

"C'mon, Mal. I know the curiosity is killing you." Audrey insisted, "it's written all over your face. I know we've only just met, but you're the first one who's been able to see me since...well..."

Hesitating at her words, Audrey tucked some white hair behind her ear and frowned, "listen, Ben's been blaming himself for my death since it happened. It was an _accident_. He's been holding it in for almost ten years, my family to. The whole kingdom seems to have forgotten about me — wiped it from memory as though it never happened."

"But what does that have to do with you?" Mal asked, warming her own hands by the fire as she watched the orange tails create designs on the brick wall.

"Because. I...I'm stuck here," Audrey mumbled, rubbing her arm awkwardly, "I've been trying to get Ben to understand it's not his fault. I've tried everything. But now you're here; you might be able to help me."

"Wait. Wait. Hold on. Pause." Making a T with her hands, Audrey stopped talking as Mal rubbed the spot between her eyes, "you said you died ten years ago? Why are you my age?"

"I can take any form I want." Audrey spoke, suddenly disappearing in a blink. Turning to try and find her again, a little girl in a pale pink dress was on the lounge sofa.

"Woah."

"I've been following Ben around forever." Audrey said, once again reappearing by the fireplace as a teenager, "but when you came in, I thought maybe this form would be more appropriate. And I was right."

"And the fire poker?"

"Well you did burst in unannounced." Audrey insisted, folding her arms against her chest, "human habits don't go away."

"So If you're a real ghost then, why can I touch you?"

"That...I have no idea, actually." Audrey admitted with a shrug, "like I said, you're the first person who's been able to see me like this. I can appear for short moments to other people, like Ben or my parents or Grammy. But only briefly. And they usually just forget about it. Rude, right?"

Shaking her head, Mal wasn't even sure if the current conversation was actually real. Maybe Ben was right; she was losing her mind. "There's also one more thing. Something...I'm honestly afraid to ask." Audrey mumbled, pulling Mal back from her thoughts. The ghost looked suddenly very small in the vastness of the library, not making eye contact and pulling at the hem of her skirt.

"You've already asked me to do something impossible." Mal insisted hotly, "what else is there?"

"Well...my body."

"Your body? Like, your real body?" The dragon girl clarified. Audrey merely nodded.

"I don't know where it is." She spoke, her tone barely a croak, "no one could find it...find me...anyway. Ben and I were playing, see. He was only gone for a second, but I got to close to the river. I slipped and fell in — I hit my head on a rock."

Rubbing her scalp, Mal was startled when Audrey's fingers came back crimson against her snow colored skin, "I don't remember exactly what happened, but I briefly recall floating down the river. And then...it was over. I woke up in the same spot I fell. But I was like this." Waving to herself, Audrey wiped her hand on her dress, leaving long red streaks across the fabric, "I know it's a lot. But maybe...maybe if you can't convince Ben to stop blaming himself, finding my body might release me."

"I...Audrey, I don't even know you."

"Find the book with the white roses on it." Audrey spoke, waving to the library, "Ben hid it away somewhere, so he could move on from what happened. Find that, and you can get to know me a bit better..."

Staring at the ghost for a long moment, Audrey's gaze was pleading and sad. Her desperation was clear, and Mal hated that feeling of deplorable compassion which rose up into her gut. God sometimes it was easier being on the isle. Not noticing she was completely zoning out, the dragon girl jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder. Turning, Evie was standing there, blue brows pulled upwards.

"Mal?"

"E. Gods you nearly scared me to..." stopping before finishing the sentence, Mal turned to where Audrey had been standing. As expected, she was gone. But in a small puddle of water lay a single white rose. "nevermind. When did you get here?"

"Just now. You looked like you were thinking hard about something." Evie admitted with a light laugh, setting down the plastic bag of Chinese food she had brought, "Ben was pretty flummoxed when he called. Everything ok?"

"I'm not sick if that's what you're asking." Mal insisted, swooping down easily to pick up the white rose, caressing it in her hand in a way Evie couldn't see, "we just had a little spat. Nothing more."

"Ben said you were seeing things."

"Ben says a lot of things, E. He's an exaggerator." Mal insisted, dropping the lone flower into the bouquet which already sat by the lounge, "I was feeling a little woozy and I imagined something up."

"Then why are you so defensive?"

"I'm not defensive." Mal spat, only to blink and shake herself. It was both a blessing and a curse that Evie knew her so well, "damn it."

"What's really going on, Mal? You aren't having second thoughts about Ben, right?"

"What? No!"

Setting both hands on her hips, Mal watched Evie plop down onto the sofa easily, "I learned something tonight that I don't think I was supposed to know...like, ever."

"Oh?" Tipping her head to one side innocently, Evie frowned deeply, "I thought you told each other everything?"

"Apparently not." Moving around slightly to get a better look at the library, Mal cleared her throat.

"What was lost now is found, as my magic circles round. Whether you are hidden far or near, I call you to come meet me here."

Flicking her wrists, there was a moment of nothing as Mal focused on what she was searching for. White roses, that's what Audrey had said. A book with white roses on it.

"Mal!"

Opening her eyes, a distinct thudding was coming from across the room. Turning to run towards the sound, Evie met her there. "Looks like a hidden compartment."

"Let's have a look." Mal mumbled, using the small, camouflaged hook in the floor to pull the trap door open. Settled inside was a book, it's leather cover embroidered with white flowers and vines. It was covered in dust and cobwebs, still shaking from the spell which Mal had used to summon it. "This is it."

Removing the tome from the compartment, Mal blew off the coat of grey snow with her breath.

"What is it exactly?" Evie asked, "did Ben tell you about this?"

"Not exactly." Mal admitted, closing the hidden door with a foot as she sat down on the lounge sofa. Evie happily came to sit beside her, the girls own curiosity no doubt overflowing as Mal flipped open the first page. It was a photo album. The first image was of a smiling little boy with a space between his teeth, and a little girl with the largest doe eyes Mal had ever seen. They were wrapped around one another, laying back down in the grass and staring at one another.

"Someone went to a lot of trouble to get this picture." Mal mused, noting the above angle. She also didn't fail to notice how close the children were, no doubt the boy being Ben, and the girl being Audrey, "...what happened to you?"

"Mal? What happened to who?"

"It's a bit of a long story," Mal mumbled, turning to her friend and sighing deeply, "Evie...do you believe in ghosts?"


End file.
